1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved headwear structure of the type having a crown and an associated depending bill and, more particularly to a cap with an emblem or other mark defined by attaching a flexible molded material or a piece of sheet to produce a protrusive effect, and through a washing process, the attachment portion decolorized to enhance the protrusive effect and to improve the natural appearance of a cap.
2. Background Art
The traditional headwear comprises a plurality of panels forming a crown body, with a bill portion extending therefrom. As a cap is one of the most widely worn pieces of headwear, the front portion of the crown is widely used to display advertisements, logos, emblems, messages, etc. Heretofore, advertisements, logos, emblems, messages, etc. have been attached to the crown surface by embroidery. When a protrusive effect was desired, two or more layers of embroidery were formed on top of a flat embroidery surface. This method however, made the stitching process more difficult as the embroidery layers became higher, decreasing productivity and increasing the embroidery thread required. To provide a solution to this problem, flexible or semi-flexible sheet materials were molded in the shape of the letters or diagrams needed and were attached to a predetermined location. A protrusive effect was achieved by embroidering on top of the attached preformed letters or diagrams. Recently, a method of using a piece of sheet instead of preformed letters or diagrams to stitch the desired letters or diagrams with embroidery thread and removing the remaining parts of a sheet thereafter was employed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,854, Chien-Lu Lin, a piece of sheet is stitched with embroidery thread according to the desired shape with the remaining parts of a sheet removed as the needle passes through so that a protrusive effect is achieved by a sheet remaining on the inside of the embroidery.
However, the above mentioned method only provided a protrusive effect created by the embroidery thread. No attempt has been made to date to coordinate a method of presenting a cap displaying a natural three dimensional visual effect increasing the value and advertising effect of a cap.